Combined snow boring tool and ball striking club

ABSTRACT

A combined snow-boring tool and club for playing a golf-like ball game in snow and adapted to bore a cup in the snow for receiving of the ball comprises a substantially straight shaft having a weighted club head at one end and a rigid snowcompressing disk adjacent the second end with a rigid drill plate fixed to and extending perpendicularly outwardly from the obverse side of the snow-compressing disk. The obverse side forms a flat snow-compressing surface oriented substantially perpendicularly to the shaft and facing away from the more distant second end of the shaft, and the reverse side of the disk forms a snowcollecting surface. A rigid drill plate is fixed to the disk, being positioned perpendicularly to and diametrically across the obverse side of the disk and having a pair of cutting surfaces which converge to form a piercing tip located substantially on the axis of the shaft. The weighted club head increases the momentum of the shaft, disk and drill plate when the shaft is forced vertically downwardly by an operator to urge the drill plate and disk into the snow to pierce and compress the snow to define a circular cross-section ball cup in the snow. The club head, which includes a ball-striking surface to permit driving of the ball with the club head, has its center of gravity positioned substantially off the axis of the shaft to generate a force moment about the axis, thereby increasing the angular momentum about the shaft axis when the drill plate is urged downwardly into snow and the shaft rotated, thereby assisting the drill plate in cutting through the snow.

United States Patent Alexander Dec. 17, 1974 1 1 COMBINED SNOW BORINGTOOL AND BALL STRIKING CLUB lnventor: Ernest 1-1. Alexander, 5136Woodland Rd., Minnetonka, Minn. 55343 Filed: Mar. 7, 1974 Appl. No.:449,190

U.S. Cl. 273/162 F, 175/18, 175/315 Int. Cl A63b 53/00 Field of Search273/77 R, 162 F, 168, 162 R;

Primary Examiner-Richard .1. Apley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Williamson,Bains 8L Moore [57] ABSTRACT A combined snow-boring tool and club forplaying a golf-like ball game in snow and adapted to bore a cup in thesnow for receiving of the ball comprises a substantially straight shafthaving a weighted club head at one end and a rigid snow-compressing diskadjacent the second end with a rigid drill plate fixed to and extendingperpendicularly outwardly from the obverse side of the snow-compressingdisk. The obverse side forms a flat snow-compressing surface orientedsubstantially perpendicularly to the shaft and facing away from the moredistant second end of the shaft, and the reverse side of the disk formsa snow-collecting surface. A rigid drill plate is fixed to the disk,being positioned perpendicularly to and diametrically across the obverseside of the disk and having a pair of cutting surfaces which converge toform a piercing tip located substantially on the axis of the shaft. Theweighted club head increases the momentum of the shaft, disk and drillplate when the shaft is forced vertically downwardly by an operator tourge the drill plate and disk into the snow to pierce and compress thesnow to define a circular cross-section ball cup in the snow. The clubhead, which includes a ball-striking surface to permit driving of theball with the club head, has its center of gravity positionedsubstantially off the axis of the shaft to generate a force moment aboutthe axis, thereby increasing the angular momentum about the shaft axiswhen the drill plate is urged downwardly into snow and the shaftrotated, thereby assisting the drill plate in cutting through the snow.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures COMBINED SNOW BORING TOOL AND BALL STRIKINGCLUB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the field ofoutdoor game equipment and provides a combined snow-boring tool and clubuseful in the playing of a golf-like ball game by cross-country skiersand other outdoorsmen.

In recent years, with the increasing popularity of cross-country skiing,various outdoor game activities have been devised for such skiers. Amongthe most promising of these games is a golf-like game played by theskiers as they move from hole to hole on skis. The ball used in the gameis typically brightly colored to stand out against the snow and isformed with a diameter of approximately 4 inches so as to avoid beingeasily buried or lost in the snow. A specially designed club is usefulin this game, and additional special equipment is required to permit askier to effectively and enjoyably play the game.

In playing the game, a plurality of cups or holes is formed in the snowto receive the ball. Often the course on which the game is played may becrusted with ice or have multiple layers of crusted snow, requiring aspecial snow-boring tool to form a cup meeting the size requirementsestablished for the game. A club is required for driving the ball, andthe skier-player requires a ski pole for propelling himself across thecourse. To obtain maximum enjoyment from the game, the equipment usedshould be light in weight and occupy minimum space. The presentinvention combines a snow-boring tool with the required club and is soconstructed as to also be usable as a ski pole, thereby greatly reducingthe items of equipment otherwise carried by the skier and making thegame more enjoyable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises an easily carried,combined snow-boring tool and club which may also be used as a ski pole,the invention being used in a golf-like ball game played on snow byskiers.

The combined snow-boring tool and club has a straight, longitudinalshaft with a rigid snowcompressing disk adjacent afirst end of theshaft. The disk has a snow-compressing surface on its obverse sideoriented generally perpendicularly to the axis of the shaft, with thedisk and shaft axes coinciding A rigid drill plate is fixed to thesnow-compressing surface and positioned diametrically across it andperpendicular thereto. The drill plate has a pair of cutting surfaceswhich converge to form a piercing tip substantially on the axis of theshaft. By urging the drill plate downwardly into the snow whilesimultaneously rotating the shaft, an operator can cut through crustedice and snow to define a carefully formed, neat, regulation-size cupappropriate for receiving the ball.

A weighted club head is fixed to the second end of the shaft and extendsoutwardly therefrom. This weighted head substantially increases themomentum of the combined tool and club when the snow compressing diskand drill plate are forced downwardly into the snow to compress the snowand define the cup. In addition, by having the club head extendingoutwardly from the shaft, the center of gravity of the club head isdisplaced from the club axis, and this placement increases the angularmomentum ofthe combined tool and club when it is rotated about the axisof the shaft.

By urging the drill plate downwardly and rotating the shaft axis, thedrill plate cuts into the crusted layers of snow and ice, the increasedangular momentum obtained by displacement of the club heads center ofgravity assisting in the drilling action by inertially aiding thecontinued rotation of the shaft and drill plate. The outwardly extendingclub head also provides a convenient handle for the operator to graspwhen rotating the shaft.

Still other advantages of the combined snow-boring tool and club arethat it is durable, streamlined, compact, resilient to shock and roughhandling. easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and simple to assemble.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the appended drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing of anembodiment of the combined snow-boring tool and club showing the use ofthe embodiment in boring a cup in crusted snow and ice.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of one end of the embodiment shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 taken in thedirection of arrows 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective drawing showing a use of the combinedsnow-boring tool and club in playing the golflike ball game.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, theshown embodiment 10 of the combined snow-boring tool and club has anelongated, substantially rigid, straight shaft 12 formed of wood, metal,or other suitable material known to the art, the length of the shaft 12being suited to the operators or players physical stature. The shaft 12has a central, longitudinal axis 14 and is wrapped with commerciallyavailable tape 16 or its equivalent adjacent first end 18 and second end20 to define first and second spaced apart hand grip members. The firstend 18 is bifurcated, defining bifurcations 22 and 24.

Adjacent the first end l8'of the shaft 12 is a rigid snow-compressingdisk 26 whose central axis 28 is oriented to coincide with the shaftaxis 14. The disk 26 is rigidly fixed to the shaft 12 in any knownmanner and is circular in cross-section, having a diameter slightlylarger than the chosen diameter of the ball with which the golf-likegame is to be played. The obverse side of the snow-compressing disk 26forms a flat, snowcompressing surface 30 oriented substantiallyperpendicularly to the shaft 12 and facing away from the second end 20of the shaft 12. Accordingly, when the shaft 12 and attached disk 26 isurged downwardly into the snow in the direction 32 the surface 30 isforced against the snow 34, compressing the snow and defining acylindrical cup 35 in which the ball 36 may be received.

The disk 26 has a snow-collecting surface 38 on the side of the diskopposite the obverse side and facing the second end 20 of the shaft.When the disk 26 is forced downwardly into the snow 34, snow particlesare dis lodged from the side of the cup 35 and land on the surface 38 toform a snow accumulation 40 as the disk 26 moves downwardly into thesnow. This permits easy removal of the accumulated snow on the surface38 by simply withdrawing the disk and shaft from the snow and shakingthe accumulation 40 off. Accordingly,

forcing the disk 26 downwardly into the snow serves to compress the snowbelow the disk and in contact with snow-compressing surface 30 whilesnow particles dislodged by the passing disk are collected on thesurface 38 and easily withdrawn from the cup and disposed of. The disk26 may be formed of wood, metal, or other equivalent material which issturdy and rigid.

A rigid drill plate 42 is fixed to and extends outwardly from thesnow-compressing surface 30 of the disk 26, is oriented perpendicularlyto thesurface 30, and extends diametrically across the surface 30. Theplate 42 has cutting surfaces 44 and 46 converging toward one another todefine a piercing tip 48 positioned substantially on the axes 14 and 28.The plate 42 is positioned between the bifurcations 22 and 24 of theshaft 12 and fixed to them so as to receive lateral support from thebifurcations. When thedisk 26 and drill plate 42 are forced downwardlyinto the snow, the cutting surfaces 44 and 46 cut into the snow and whenthe drill plate 42 is rotated about the axis 14 as the shaft 12 isrotated in directions 50, the cutting surfaces 44 and 46 cooperate tobore a hole through crusted snow or ice and thereby aid in defining acylindrical golf cup as the disk 26 is forced downwardly in direction 32and rotated in directions 50, the snow ground up by the rotationalaction of the drill plate being subsequently compressed by thesnow-compressing surface 30.

At the second end 20 of the shaft 12 is a weighted club head 54 having apair of ball-striking surfaces 56 and 57 on opposed lateral sides of theclub 54. The shaft 12 is rigidly imbedded in a bore 58 passing partiallythrough the club 54. The head 54 is formed of sturdy,'rigid, relativelysolid material such as wood to provide a substantial weight at thesecond end 20 of the shaft 12 for a purpose to be described hereafter.The head 54 extends outwardly from the shaft 12 at an obtuse anglethereto 'so that the edge 59 will be approximately parallel to the snowsurface when the club is used to propel the ball 36 as shown in FIG. 5.Because the head 54 extends outwardly from the shaft 12, the center ofgravity 60 of the head 54 is positioned substantially off the axis 14 ofthe shaft, and accordingly when the shaft and head are rotated about theaxis 14 at some given velocity, the mass of head 54 generatessubstantial angular momentum about the axis 14, tending to keep theshaft 12 rotating when once set in motion. Rotation of the shaft 12causes the drill plate 42 to readily bore or cut through the crustedsnow or ice encountered as the drill moves downwardly into the snow 34.The substantial mass of the club head 54 also acts directly downwardlyon the shaft 12 to substantially increase the momentum of the structureas it is rammed downwardly into the snow by an operator, increasing theease with which the cup 35 is formed.

In operation, when the operator or player desires to form a cup in thesnow, he positions the apex 48 of the plate 42 over the location wherethe cup is to be tion and assures additional penetration into the snow34. When resistance is encountered due to crusted snow or ice, such assnow crusts 62 and 64, the operator applies a downwardly directed forcein the direction of arrow 32 to the shaft 12 and grasping the club head54 and the shaft 12 begins rotating the shaft about its axis 14, causingthe cutting surfaces 44 and 46 of drill plate 42 to cut through thecrusts 62 and 64. As the drill plate and disk move downwardly throughthe snow, the snow-compressing surface 30 compresses the snow downwardlywhile the circular cross-section of the disk 26 carefully defines thecylindrical shape of the cup. Any snow which is dislodged from the edgesof the cup 35 as the disk moves downwardly is collected on thesnow-collecting surface 38 and may be subsequently withdrawn as the tool10 is raised from the cup 35, after which the collected snow 40 isdisposed of in any convenient manner.

To use the combined tool and club 10 as a golf club, the operator graspsthe first end 18 of the club and swings the striking surface 56 or 57toward the ball, hitting and propelling it as is well known to the golfart.

When the operator desires to ski to the next hole, he inverts thecombined snow-bering tool and club 10, grasping the tape 16 at thesecond end 20 and using the disk 26 and drill plate 42 to dig into thesnow and propel himself on his skis, the embodiment 10 thus providing asubstitute for a conventional ski pole.

Accordingly, the invention provides a single structure which theskier-player may carry with him to meet all his golf playing and skiingrequirements in the described golf-like game, thus eliminating multipleimplements such as club, ski pole, and hole-preparation equipment.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed, it should be understood that various changes, adaptations andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combined snow-boring tool and club for playing a golf-like ballgame in snow and adapted to bore a cup in the snow for receiving of theball, comprising:

an elongated, substantially straight shaft having first and second endsand a central longitudinal axis, first and second spaced apart hand gripmembers located on said shaft adjacent said first and second endsrespectively; rigid snow-compressing disk having a central axis andfixed to said shaft adjacent said first end, the axes of said disk andshaft substantially coinciding, the obverse side of said disk forming aflat snowcompessing surface oriented substantially perpendicularly tosaid shaft and facing away from said second end of said shaft forcompressing snow when said disk and first end of said shaft are forcedaxially downwardly into the snow to form a cup in the snow; rigid drillplate fixed to and extending outwardly from said snow-compressingsurface of said disk, said drill plate being oriented perpendicularly tothe said snow-compressing surface and positioned diametrically acrosssaid snow-compressing surface of said disk to cut through snow inresponse to rotation of said drill plate, disk and shaft about the axesof said shaft and disk; and a weighted club head rigidly fixed to saidsecond end of said shaft to increase the momentum of said shaft, diskand drill plate when said shaft is forced vertically downwardly by anoperator to urge said drill plate and disk into the snow to pierce andcompress the snow to define a circular crosssection ball cup in thesnow, said club head including at least one ball-striking surface topermit driving of the ball with the club head when said club head andsaid shaft are swung through an arc. 2. The combined snow-boring tooland club of claim 1 wherein saqd drill plate has a pair of cuttingsurfaces, said cutting surfaces converging to define a piercing tiplocated substantially on the axis of said shaft and spaced along theaxis from said snow-compressing surface.

3. The combined snow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein said firstend of said shaft is bifurcated, a bifurcation being positioned on eachlateral side of said drill plate and fixed thereto to provide lateralsupport to said drill plate for boring of a cup in the snow.

4. The combined snow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein said clubhead extends outwardly from said shaft and has its center of gravitypositioned substantially off the axis of said shaft to generate a momentabout the axis of said shaft and thereby increase the angular momentumabout said shaft axis when said drill plate is urged downwardly intosnow and said shaft and head rotated about the axis of said shaft torotate said drill plate and cut through the snow, said outwardlyextending club head further providing a handle for an operator to graspduring rotation.

5. The combined snow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein said diskfurther includes a substantially flat snow-collecting surface positionedon the side of said disk opposite said obverse snow-compressing surfaceside to receive dislodged snow when said disk is forced downwardly intothe snow.

1. A combined snow-boring tool and club for playing a golf-like ballgame in snow and adapted to bore a cup in the snow for receiving of theball, comprising: an elongated, substantially straight shaft havingfirst and second ends and a central longitudinal axis, first and secondspaced apart hand grip members located on said shaft adjacent said firstand second ends respectively; a rigid snow-compressing disk having acentral axis and fixed to said shaft adjacent said first end, the axesof said disk and shaft substantially coinciding, the obverse side ofsaid disk forming a flat snow-compessing surface oriented substantiallyperpendicularly to said shaft and facing away from said second end ofsaid shaft for compressing snow when said disk and first end of saidshaft are forced axially downwardly into the snow to form a cup in thesnow; a rigid drill plate fixed to and extending outwardly from saidsnow-compressing surface of said disk, said drill plate being orientedperpendicularly to the said snow-compressing surface and positioneddiametrically across said snow-compressing surface of said disk to cutthrough snow in response to rotation of said drill plate, disk and shaftabout the axes of said shaft and disk; and a weighted club head rigidlyfixed to said second end of said shaft to increase the momentum of saidshaft, disk and drill plate when said shaft is forced verticallydownwardly by an operator to urge said drill plate and disk into thesnow to pierce and compress the snow to define a circular cross-sectionball cup in the snow, said club head including at least oneball-striking surface to permit driving of the ball with the club headwhen said club head and sAid shaft are swung through an arc.
 2. Thecombined snow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein saqd drill platehas a pair of cutting surfaces, said cutting surfaces converging todefine a piercing tip located substantially on the axis of said shaftand spaced along the axis from said snow-compressing surface.
 3. Thecombined snow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein said first end ofsaid shaft is bifurcated, a bifurcation being positioned on each lateralside of said drill plate and fixed thereto to provide lateral support tosaid drill plate for boring of a cup in the snow.
 4. The combinedsnow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein said club head extendsoutwardly from said shaft and has its center of gravity positionedsubstantially off the axis of said shaft to generate a moment about theaxis of said shaft and thereby increase the angular momentum about saidshaft axis when said drill plate is urged downwardly into snow and saidshaft and head rotated about the axis of said shaft to rotate said drillplate and cut through the snow, said outwardly extending club headfurther providing a handle for an operator to grasp during rotation. 5.The combined snow-boring tool and club of claim 1 wherein said diskfurther includes a substantially flat snow-collecting surface positionedon the side of said disk opposite said obverse snow-compressing surfaceside to receive dislodged snow when said disk is forced downwardly intothe snow.